Step 2 – Discover Our History

Seven Oaks is a working wine farm. We grow a range of white and red wine grapes in 55 hectares of vineyards. The background to our name is a fascinating story of local history.

Oom Fanie Le Roux, 86 years old and still going strong! He tells us that there used to be only 4 farms in the area between the Breede and Wagenbooms rivers. One of these was called Witteelse Boom, of 1434 Morgan, and had only grazing rights from the Dutch East India Company. Our origins date back to 1813 when Sir John Cradock announced that farms could be subdivided. Many subdivisions of Witelsboom, as the farm became known, took place.

Our farm belonged to Oom Fanie’s father, Stephanus Christoffel Le Roux, in 1887. He later inherited the farm. It was known as Amore (meaning Love) by the Italian prisoners of war who worked on the land during the Second World War. Oom Fanie remembers there being 5 oak trees behind the farmhouse. One was cut down in 1947, a vast tree with a 6 feet diameter trunk and close to 100 years old (at least 92 tree rings could be counted).

Patrick bought the farm on auction in 2003. Celebrating his purchase, which Jacqui did not know about, with the local wine, he told her, “It has seven oaks”. When Jacqui arrived for the first time she counted only 6 oaks! Look when you arrive and you will see the smaller 7th oak in front and beside our house.

Our wine label has 6 large and one little oak tree to depict and commemorate our history and story.